We were lucky to catch up with Laura Sullivan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Laura thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

When I entered the world of natural health as holistic health coach, I focused mainly on nutrition. As I worked with clients, I began noticing that while food and supplements can be very helpful in healing, something was missing. My clients would get to a certain point in their health and then plateau. I knew through my training that we were supposed to look at the whole person, so I began to sprinkle some mind body work into our sessions. I immediately saw positive results but was still reluctant to move away from nutrition and supplements because they work on the physical body, which is more easily studied and written about in scientific literature. I thought that was something my clients trusted and wanted, so that is how I worked.

I was then introduced to Reiki. While I felt the energy and experienced the healing firsthand, I was afraid to incorporate it into my practice for fear of losing clients who might think I was too “out there.” I was so afraid of how I would be seen that I hid all my beliefs and tools, only sharing them with a few trusted friends who I knew would still accept me. I started working with energy practitioners for my own healing and was introduced to different energy healing methods, such as Emotional Freedom Technique. I enrolled in a school for Ayurveda and began to see the benefits of meditation. It became clear to me that I was moving past holistic nutrition as a career, but I was still hiding my authentic self.

After taking a few years off and spending time as a stay-at-home mom, I was ready to take on clients again. I still thought that working on the physical body was what people wanted, and so that is how I advertised myself. Each time I would get a client, it wouldn’t work out. Either I wasn’t what they were looking for or I would feel constrained, knowing that I wasn’t working authentically. And then the clients just stopped coming.

It wasn’t until I had a true sense of myself that my practice started to grow again. When I began to trust in my knowledge and my intuition, not care what others think, and feel confident in my ability to help others, clients and ideas started flowing. We can be so paralyzed by our thinking of how others perceive us, that we hide from who we really are. Being authentic in my business was a lesson that took me a while to embrace but has been one of the most important lessons I have ever learned.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

If you had told my younger self that I would be practicing energy healing (and seeing amazing results), I may not have believed you. With a degree in Neuroscience, I have always loved science. I liked thinking about the world through empirical evidence and data, and it was not easy for me to trust in things I couldn’t see. While I still enjoy learning about the brain and keeping up to date on the latest advancements, I realized about 15 years ago that something was missing.

On the surface my life was great. I married my college boyfriend, bought a house, and eventually had 2 much wanted children. But as the years moved on and I cared for my family, my self-care plummeted, and I began to feel more disconnected from who I was. I would have moments of “there has to be more than this” and began to wake up each day feeling like I was walking through the same routine again and again.

Then I found meditation and Ayurveda. As I became a daily meditator and changed my routines and foods to better suit my mind body type, I began to catch glimpses of what my life could look like, and I liked what I saw. While I was already attuned to Reiki at the time, I began to deepen my practice, and again, more light started shining into my world. Slowly, one book, class, or practitioner at a time I started to understand that we can all have lives that feel light and joyful. Of course there are still difficult days, but having the tools to get myself back into the energy of feeling good was reassurance that I can find joy again whenever those days come.

My goal is to help my clients find the same understanding, and with it bring more fun, love and peace into their lives. I believe that how we feel both physically and mentally can change how we perceive everything and everyone in our lives. How we view the same event/interaction/situation can change depending on whether we are feeling high or low, and the lives we want come much easier when we spend our days feeling great.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

As I was walking through the University Center of my college my senior year, wondering what I was going to do when I graduated, I saw an informational table for the Peace Corps, and I just knew that was my next step. Looking back, that is the first time I can remember what an intuitive knowing can feel like. I proceeded to apply and serve as a volunteer and continue on in country as a consultant for a non-profit. One of the things I loved about my experience in Africa, was the chance to slow down, stop trying so hard to achieve and to learn about myself. When I returned from nearly 3 years abroad, I felt strongly about pursuing alternative health and energy as a career, but the advice I kept getting from well-meaning friends and family was to go back to school, get a masters and start a career. With that in mind, I spent many years looking for a more “legitimate” path, one that has professional licenses and consistent job offerings, only to find myself years later, finally following my heart and choosing joy over fear.

While I do feel like there are no mistakes and each step on our paths are important, if I could go back, I would choose this same profession, only maybe a bit earlier than I did!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy I have seen in growing clientele is teaching group classes. I have taught through adult schools and rec centers, and I have held group meditations in yoga studios. I have found these classes to be a great way to show potential clients my knowledge and give them a few tips, while leaving them wanting to learn more. Many of my clients leads have come through these classes, or through word of mouth from people who have attended.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joyful-wellbeing.com
• Instagram: joyfulwellbeingma